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A Bill to strengthen data protection could strip back the right to confidential legal advice, the Bar Council warned.
Bar Chair Andrew Walker QC said the Data Protection Bill, going through Parliament, will give the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) ‘sweeping powers to access legally privileged material’.
He said: ‘The irony is that these powers are designed to give citizens more control and protection over how their data are used, but the effect will be to allow access to their legally privileged communications without their consent.’
Walker warned that the bill will undermine the right to confidential legal advice, protected by the common law and Articles 6 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
He said that imposing a duty on lawyers to respond to ICO demands for privileged information would place them in the invidious position of being unable to reassure clients they will be able to protect the confidentiality of information imparted to them.
The Bar Council also warned that the bill could let the Home Office ‘off the hook’ for making incorrect decisions that see people wrongly deported or detained.
It said the bill gives the Home Office a wide-ranging exemption from its obligation to tell people what data it has on them.
Walker said: ‘Making a Subject Access Request is often the only way for people who are in the immigration system to find out crucial information relevant to their immigration status, and even to find out the very basis for adverse decisions that the Home Office has already made about them.’
Blocking access, he said, will insulate the Home Office from challenges to its ‘notoriously poor’ decision-making.
A Bill to strengthen data protection could strip back the right to confidential legal advice, the Bar Council warned.
Bar Chair Andrew Walker QC said the Data Protection Bill, going through Parliament, will give the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) ‘sweeping powers to access legally privileged material’.
He said: ‘The irony is that these powers are designed to give citizens more control and protection over how their data are used, but the effect will be to allow access to their legally privileged communications without their consent.’
Walker warned that the bill will undermine the right to confidential legal advice, protected by the common law and Articles 6 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
He said that imposing a duty on lawyers to respond to ICO demands for privileged information would place them in the invidious position of being unable to reassure clients they will be able to protect the confidentiality of information imparted to them.
The Bar Council also warned that the bill could let the Home Office ‘off the hook’ for making incorrect decisions that see people wrongly deported or detained.
It said the bill gives the Home Office a wide-ranging exemption from its obligation to tell people what data it has on them.
Walker said: ‘Making a Subject Access Request is often the only way for people who are in the immigration system to find out crucial information relevant to their immigration status, and even to find out the very basis for adverse decisions that the Home Office has already made about them.’
Blocking access, he said, will insulate the Home Office from challenges to its ‘notoriously poor’ decision-making.
Far-ranging month for the Chair of the Bar
Endometriosis Awareness North, a charity raising awareness of endometriosis and supporting those affected across the North of England, has received a £500 boost from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, examines the most recent data on alcohol misuse in the UK, and the implications for alcohol testing in family proceedings
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how tailored financial planning can help barristers take control of their finances and plan with confidence
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
A £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs has been made to the leading UK charity tackling international parental child abduction and the movement of children across international borders
Seeing the full picture – Baljit Ubhey OBE outlines the CPS action plan to tackle violence against women and girls, offering insights directly relevant to courtroom practice
Heritage as an anchor and a compass, finding our common humanity and embracing the power of the outsider – Melina Antoniadis’s lessons learnt
Is the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office process fit for purpose? Women barristers’ experiences of bullying are not being reported or, if they are, they are not making it through the system, says Tana Adkin KC
Review by Daniel Barnett
Chair of the Bar reports back
